[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H840-H848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DISAPPROVING A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 70, I
call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 38) disapproving the rule
submitted by the Department of the Interior known as the Stream
Protection Rule, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 70, the joint
resolution is considered read.
The text of the joint resolution is as follows:
H.J. Res. 38
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress
disapproves the rule submitted by the Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement of the Department of the
Interior relating to the ``Stream Protection Rule''
(published at 81 Fed. Reg. 93066 (December 20, 2016)), and
such rule shall have no force or effect.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop) and the
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.
General Leave
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on
H.J. Res. 38.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Utah?
There was no objection.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 4 minutes.
We are starting an historic week in the House, something that was
replicated almost two decades ago, but we are doing it again and are
using the Congressional Review Act to look at actual rules and
regulations. What we are doing is the right thing.
In 1996, when this act was first passed, President Clinton, after
signing it, said that this act would give congressional accountability
for regulations. Even Harry Reid said that this act would be reclaiming
for Congress some of its policymaking authority, and Sander Levin of
Michigan, at the time, also said that now we are in a position to do
something ourselves. If a rule goes too far afield from the intent of
Congress in its passing the statute in the first place, we can stop it.
That is exactly what we are attempting to do, and this is one of the
first of those activities we will be doing this week.
The Congressional Review Act actually has three purposes in mind.
They said, if a rule has excessive costs, if a rule goes beyond the
particular agency's statutory authority, and if a rule is duplicative
or unnecessary, it should be reviewed by Congress and rescinded. That
is exactly what we are going to do because this rule, commonly called
the stream protection rule, does all three of those criteria.
What I want to do is talk about this rule that was passed at the last
minute by the former administration--it actually went into effect on
the very last day of the administration--and say that it violates all
of those three elements. The act itself--the rule itself--was done in
secret. They had their own opaque study that they did without letting
anyone know what the data was. We asked for it repeatedly, but the
agency refused to tell us. Even in 2015, Congress passed a law in the
Appropriations Act that mandated they tell us the data, the
information. They simply ignored that law. They have refused to work
with Congress in any particular way.
{time} 1400
Actually, it violates law. If this rule goes forward, it violates the
NEPA law. If gone into implementation, it would violate the Endangered
Species Act.
It violates a memo of understanding the Federal Government had with
10 States at the time. In fact, there are 14 States suing over this
rule and regulation. We have the letters of support from 14 State
attorneys general in support of what we are attempting to do here.
If put into effect, it clearly violates the Clean Water Act by its
effort to redefine hydraulic balance, which this agency does not have
the authority to do. It is given to other elements.
It also puts us at risk of litigation on a takings issue. There is
precedent for that. It could happen again, all because of this ill-
defined and unnecessary rule and regulation.
If we roll it back, there is still protection. There will always
still be protection. In a Department of the Interior study, they
clearly said that 93 percent of all the impact has already been taken
care of and does not actually exist. It would be easy for us to do and
it would put us back to a rule established in 1983 that is effective in
protecting these areas. Ninety three percent of all streams have no
impact by this issue whatsoever.
It also clearly says, under the report when this rule was being done,
that the States that are legally supposed to be coordinated and be a
part of the process were shut out of the process. It is one of the
reasons why they are still suing, which means the memo of understanding
signed by those States was ignored by the agency in coming up with this
rule. The States that regulate 97 percent of the Nation's coal
production, States and tribes that abate well over 90 percent of the
abandoned mine problems--they have it in line, they have it ready, they
are ready to move forward with it--they were simply shut out of the
process. It is a poor process.
There was a former icon of this body, a great Member who once
allegedly said: If I let you make the policy and you let me make the
procedure, I will screw you over every time.
This is poor procedure that has produced a poor rule, which will
result in poor policy. At best, this rule is redundant. It is clearly
unnecessary, and it does have the potential of hurting people
nefariously when it does not need to.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong opposition to this resolution, which would put coal
company profits ahead of clean water and public health. The stream
protection rule has been in development for 7 years and puts in place
modest, commonsense protections for people who live near coal mines.
This isn't just a rule to protect streams. This is a rule to protect
people's health, to protect people's homes, and to protect the clean
water that they rely on. These folks felt strongly enough about this
rule to submit public comments.
The rule is designed to protect people like Donetta from West
Virginia, who nearly lost her life when chemicals from coal fields
found their way into her water supply and interacted with her
medication in such a way that it nearly destroyed her liver.
The rule is designed to protect people like John from Alabama, who
reports lakes that have turned gray and streams that have turned
orange.
This rule is designed to protect people like David from Tennessee,
who watched a creek near his grandmother's home become lifeless due to
strip mining nearby.
This rule is designed to protect people like Josh from North
Carolina, who can no longer fish in the streams near a family home and
wants coal companies to be held accountable for the damage that they
did.
This rule is designed to protect people like Jonita from Kentucky, a
coal miner's daughter whose water supply is tainted with heavy metal
and other toxins from coal sludge. She wrote: ``Coal put the food on my
table. It also put the poison in my water. Reasonable trade-off?''
I don't believe that Jonita or anyone else should have to make that
trade-off. No one's water supply should be sacrificed in the name of
higher bonuses for coal company CEOs. Those coal executives have made
it their overriding goal to kill this regulation; and after spending
nearly $50 million on political campaign contributions over the past 6
years, they now have a Congress and a President to do it.
So for the first time in 16 years and just the second time ever,
Republicans are going back to Newt Gingrich's playbook and trying to
successfully use the Congressional Review Act simply because the coal
industry feels like it shouldn't be held accountable.
But as we know, this is only the first of five regulations that we
will be repealing just this week. Later today, they are going to get
rid of the rule
[[Page H841]]
that requires increased transparency on the part of oil, gas, and the
mining industry. Later this week, we will be fighting for the right of
oil and gas companies to pollute the air with methane.
This is the Republican agenda in the age of Trump; an attack on clean
water, an attack on clean air, an attack on transparency, and an attack
on human health. If you are a CEO or a wealthy Republican donor, this
is great news; and you will love the next couple of years. But if you
are an ordinary American that depends on their government to hold
companies accountable through tough but fair enforcement of
regulations, you should be extremely worried.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield to 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson) to explain this joint resolution.
Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, make no mistake about it, the
stream protection rule is not about protecting streams. It was designed
for one purpose--to regulate the coal mining industry out of business.
It is the centerpiece of the Obama administration's war on coal.
The simple truth is revealed when you begin to follow the Office of
Surface Mining's 7-year approach to writing this job-killing rule, a
process which began only after the previous administration discarded
the rule's predecessor, a 2008 regulation that underwent 5 years of
extensive environmental review and public comment.
That was just the beginning. Since then, millions of taxpayer dollars
have been needlessly spent developing this rule. Contractors were hired
to help rewrite the rule, but then subsequently fired when it was
leaked that the initial revisions of the rule would cost thousands of
jobs, and that was within the first few months of this attempted
rewrite.
Unfortunately, estimated job losses have only skyrocketed since the
final rule was released. What is troubling is that, throughout the
rule's rewrite, the administration refused to visit mines or to
actually assess the impact of the rule on operating mines.
There were attempts to cover up data that concealed the rule's true
economic impact. The Office of Surface Mining also repeatedly refused
to provide Congress with important documents it used to develop the
rule, while keeping State regulating agencies charged with implementing
this onerous rule in the dark and at arm's length throughout the entire
rewrite.
Now, after 7 years of this politically motivated rewrite, the
previous administration issued the final rule as they were leaving
town, well after the American people--particularly those men and women
in coal country--had sent a clear message to Washington. Politically
motivated attacks on the livelihoods of those who keep the lights on
will not stand.
The issuance of this rule, after all these facts are considered,
proves what I said earlier. This rule is about one thing: regulating
the coal industry and putting thousands of hardworking Americans that
depend on the coal industry for their livelihoods in the unemployment
line.
No one cares more about our streams that run through coal country
than those who live there, and no public officials know better how to
create a balance between protecting both jobs and the environment than
those serving in local and State governments that represent coal-
producing communities. It is certainly not the beltway bureaucrats in
Washington.
I look forward to what I hope to be and should be a bipartisan vote
supporting today's important resolution.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Lowenthal), the ranking member of the Committee on
Natural Resources' Subcommittee on Energy and Minerals Resources.
Mr. LOWENTHAL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose H.J. Res. 38.
The science is clear: mountaintop removal mining is harmful to the
health of people who live near these mines. Anyone with a computer can
go to Google Earth and see the tremendous scars on the landscape from
mining companies that blast the tops off mountains and then dump the
waste into the valleys below. But largely invisible to the naked eye is
the suffering of people who live in the nearby communities because of
these harmful practices.
The stream protection rule will protect hundreds of vulnerable
families and children who live near these sites from lung cancer, heart
disease, kidney disease, birth defects, hypertension, and other health
problems.
If the majority has a problem with this final rule, as they say they
do, they should hold a hearing in the Natural Resources Committee to
discuss its merits. There we would have an opportunity to talk to the
administration and hear from those who are most affected by mountaintop
removal mining.
Instead, they have decided to bypass regular order, go straight to
the Congressional Review Act, which will take a chainsaw to this
commonsense pollution rule. This is a reckless approach.
I urge my colleagues to take time to listen to the voices of the
American people. Please put the health and safety of American families
first and vote ``no'' on this reckless resolution.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from West Virginia (Mr. Jenkins), someone who has forgotten more about
coal than I will ever know.
Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this
resolution. Like so many folks, I have been fighting this misguided
rule for years. Miners have been fighting this rule for years. And
States--bipartisan, Democrat and Republican--have been fighting this
rule for years.
Stopping this rule matters to West Virginians, to our miners, to our
families, to our consumers. We produce 95 percent of our electricity
from coal. It is reliable and it is affordable. Coal employs 20,000
West Virginians, and tens of thousands more make their living related
to coal.
The loss of a coal job and the closing of a coal mine affects us all.
Its severance tax revenues help to fund our schools, pay for our police
and fire departments, and put money in the coffers of our local
governments.
This rule would cost cities and counties $6.4 billion in tax revenue
over a year, with the decline in coal mining. That means even more
cuts.
When we lose coal jobs, we lose other jobs as well. When coal
families lose a paycheck, they aren't able to buy goods and services
like they used to. That hurts small businesses, our shops, and our
restaurants.
It is estimated that this rule would kill 281,000 coal jobs and
related jobs in other fields. My State can't afford to lose any more
jobs, and I know that goes for other coal States.
However, despite these facts and the objections of more than a dozen
States, the Office of Surface Mining adopted a go-it-alone approach.
They ignored input that contradicts their agenda. They withheld
information on the rule and restricted States from reviewing it. Well,
that ends today.
I thank Chairman Bishop, I thank the House Natural Resources
Committee, and I thank the leadership of the House for their support on
this resolution. Thank you, Senator Capito and Leader McConnell, for
your leadership in the Senate. We also have the support of the White
House on this resolution.
With a simple majority vote in the House and the Senate, we will end
this rule and stop this job-killing, anticoal agenda.
I urge support on this joint resolution.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, it should be noted for the record that the
Republican majority conducted a 4-year investigation into the
development of this rule, holding 12 hearings, issuing two subpoenas,
collecting 25 hours of audio recordings and 13,500 pages of documents,
but were unable to uncover any political interference or misconduct in
the development of this rule.
I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs.
Lawrence).
{time} 1415
Mrs. LAWRENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H.J.
Res. 38. This rule is a much-needed update to existing mining
regulations. It ensures that communities that reside by mining
operations monitor water pollution levels.
I am standing here today to continue to speak up and fight for clean
water in
[[Page H842]]
America. I promised that I would stand up and make sure that never
again in America another community would be poisoned by the water. I
say to you, Mr. Speaker, that miners deserve clean water as well.
This resolution monitors drinking water sources for pollution, such
as lead and other toxic substances, and provides that information to
the public. Have we learned something from Flint, Mr. Speaker?
This rule will also help protect land and forests by ensuring that
companies restore the land and water sources that were impacted by a
precious occupation in our country, and that is mining operations.
Let's defeat this resolution that prohibits commonsense rulemaking,
protects the environment, and protects the rights of Americans to have
access to clean, safe drinking water, while also creating jobs.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I don't want to quibble over
details, but we actually held 13 hearings and passed four bills over
the last three Congresses about this particular rule and found
countless problems with it. That is why we are here today.
I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. McKinley),
who knows the real impact on his constituents that this rule will have.
Mr. McKINLEY. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Congressional Coal
Caucus, I rise today in strong support for this action.
After 8 long, tortuous years, our coal communities have endured a
withering attack from Washington bureaucrats focused on this agenda of
anticoal. What has been the result?
Across this country, in the coal fields of this country, 400 mines
have closed down, 83,000 coal miners have lost their jobs, 246 power
plants have closed down, and our electric utility bills have gone up 45
percent.
Then, right before President Obama left town, his administration
punctuated its war on coal with this damaging further rule. This rule
is nothing more than an organic manifestation of a Washington
bureaucracy drunk with power. If it is left unaddressed, this rule
would shut down an additional number of coal mines, and 78,000 men and
women would lose their jobs because of this rule.
For the last 2 years, our Coal Caucus, bipartisan members, have made
stopping this rule our number one priority, because it has nothing to
do with the health of America, the safety of America, and the life of
Americans.
Simply put, it was President Obama's attempt to drive a final nail
into the coffin of an industry that made America great.
Look, enough is enough. This war on coal has to come to a stop, and I
think this election set the tone for that.
Now that we finally have a President who understands the painful
impact of excessive and unnecessary regulations, we should pass this
CRA as quickly as possible so he can sign it.
It is time to give the families of the coal fields all across America
a chance to get relief from the unelected bureaucrats in Washington.
I thank the chairman for his work in getting this. I thank him for
the cosponsorship that we have had with Congressmen Johnson and Jenkins
to help us out on this, to get this before us. We have to do this for
the people of West Virginia and around the country.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, if there is a war on coal, it is being led
by the natural gas industry who produces a cheaper product at a lower
cost. And if there is any trouble that coal is in, it is directly
attributed to the free market and that competition.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Huffman), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Water, Power and
Oceans.
Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this attempt to
politically override the Interior Department's stream protection rule.
Much like the destructive mountaintop removal practice that this rule
is designed to prevent, this Republican assault on the environment and
the health of coal mining communities is a crude and dirty process.
Using the Congressional Review Act, a single hour in Congress is
going to be enough to remove a rule that reflects 7 years of national
public debate, including at least 30 stakeholder meetings, over 100,000
public comments. This blows up the regular legislative and regulatory
process, ignores science, marginalizes public health, and puts
communities at risk.
Let me be clear: when the coal dust settles on this devastating
resolution, it certainly won't be Members of Congress who are left
drinking polluted drinking water or battling lung cancer, heart
disease, and birth defects.
Much like the coal executives who profit from exhausting and
polluting the natural resources of these communities, the GOP will move
on to the next target and look for the next way to let business off the
hook, to let them externalize their costs to the environment, to local
communities, and, ultimately, to the U.S. taxpayers who have to clean
up the mess.
But communities in the Appalachian Mountains, vital salmon streams in
Alaska, and much-needed water supplies across this country will be left
dealing with the aftermath, while our Republican colleagues boast about
having provided so-called regulatory relief.
For all the talk about coal jobs from Republicans and our new
President, you would think they would care just a little about
protecting the health of these coal miners and their families and their
communities. And yet, when given a chance to protect the water quality
of 6,000 miles of streams in coal country, this House is choosing to
side with the polluting industry instead.
That is shameful, and we should oppose this wrong-headed resolution.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), who chaired most of our 13 hearings on
this issue, and who represents a State that is suing because they were
ignored in this rule, where they should have had their rights under the
Clean Water Act, which is part of the problem we have here.
Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, on December 20, 2016, the stream rule was
finalized in the last days of the Obama administration by the Office of
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, OSM. Ostensibly, the rule
is about keeping American waterways clean. In reality, it is a power
grab aimed at giving Federal regulators more authority to make coal too
expensive for anyone to mine or use.
But no one should be surprised. In 2008, then candidate Barack Obama
told the San Francisco Chronicle that while people would still be free
to build a coal-powered electricity plant under his energy policies, it
would bankrupt them because of the high costs his regulations would
impose. And that is exactly what President Obama has tried to do.
Under the stream protection rule, Federal regulators will have
expanded power to draw up new standards that make it harder to get a
coal mining permit. OSM's Federal water standards would suddenly take
precedence over the State standards that have long governed the
industry under the Clean Water Act. The Fish and Wildlife Service would
also gain the power to veto coal permits.
The aim is to take permitting power from States and impose a one-
size-fits-all standard. When this process started, 10 States signed on
to Interior's rulemaking process as State cooperating agencies. But 8
of the 10 later withdrew because Interior wasn't interested in what
they had to say.
The subcommittee I chaired held 13 hearings to expose the flaws
behind this rule. The rule provides no discernable environmental
benefits, while duplicating extensive existing environmental
protections at both the Federal and State levels.
In fact, the rule's only purpose appears to be to support the
environmental lobby's ``keep it in the ground'' platform, locking away
up to 64 percent of our domestic coal reserves, putting tens of
thousands of Americans out of work, and raising energy costs for
millions of Americans.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the joint resolution of
disapproval under the Congressional Review Act.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Brown), a member of the Natural Resources Committee.
Mr. BROWN of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.J. Res.
38. Today, I speak against eliminating the Department of the Interior's
stream protection rule. The proposed rule is
[[Page H843]]
about balancing the need to support our American coal industry with our
responsibility to safeguard and protect our environment.
What is most concerning and simply outrageous is that this bill
proposes to not only overturn the stream protection rule, but it would
prohibit the Interior Department from ever issuing a similar rule in
the future, even as technology advances and best practices to safeguard
the environment improve.
The rule, which was drafted over 7 years, after 30 public meetings
and over 100,000 public comments, is the first major update to surface
mining regulations in more than 30 years, but is being rolled back
without even a single hearing in this Congress, which doesn't follow
regular order.
Mr. Speaker, Maryland has a rich history of coal mining, a history
that predates our Nation's founding. Yet, for a decade, we have
witnessed a slow decline in coal production and a shift toward cheaper
and cleaner sources of energy. Nevertheless, the industry in Maryland
continues to employ hundreds of people, produce nearly 2 million tons
annually, and coal is the leading export commodity leaving the port of
Baltimore. I support the coal industry in Maryland.
But in Maryland, where the streams from our mountain panhandle, coal
country, flow into the Potomac and eventually the Chesapeake Bay, we
have taken proactive steps to mitigate the environmental impact
associated with mining, requiring companies to develop and follow
reclamation plans, divert streams, treat acidic drainage with
chemicals, and control erosion and runoff.
However, our efforts and requirements haven't kept up with modern
technology and innovative best practices. And the proposed rule enables
us to employ better technology to better achieve our environmental
goals.
The Department of the Interior estimates that compliance costs will
amount to a de minimis percentage of coal industry revenues, there will
be a minimal impact on mining jobs, and it will create good-paying,
green jobs. We will protect 6,000 miles of streams, 52,000 acres of
forest, and reduce 2.6 million more tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Mr. Speaker, representing families in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, I
understand firsthand that once the ecologies of streams, rivers, and
bays are degraded, they cannot be easily reclaimed.
Now is not the time to turn back or turn our back on technology that
is available and that is offered up in this rule.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Arizona (Mr. Gosar), part of our committee who has heard the 13
hearings, understands this issue, and was part of the House when we
voted four different times to be opposed to this particular rule.
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, there is no question that President Obama put
his own environmental legacy ahead of the well-being of the American
people. The Obama administration squandered taxpayer money for 8 years
attempting to force the stream protection rule down our throats.
The deception and lack of transparency utilized to implement this
rule were unprecedented. Along with manipulating job loss numbers, the
administration even changed the rule's name, thinking the American
people might forget about it. But the fact is, you can't put lipstick
on this pig. Whether you call it the stream buffer zone rule or the
stream protection rule, the rule still stinks.
The American people who want good-paying careers have missed out on
hundreds of thousands of jobs around the country as a result of
President Obama's ideologically-driven war on coal. But today is a new
dawn in America, and this job-killing, midnight regulation is now
directly in the crosshairs of the Trump administration and of this
Congress.
On behalf of all hardworking Americans, I urge my colleagues to vote
to support this commonsense legislation.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Beyer), a member of the Natural Resources Committee.
Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, with respect, I quote Mr. McKinley: ``We have
to do this for the people of West Virginia and around the country.''
And I agree, and this is why we need the stream protection rule.
It is a commonsense approach to minimizing the impacts to surface
water and groundwater from coal mining.
In Appalachia alone, mountaintop removal has been responsible for the
destruction of 2,000 miles of streams. Peer reviewed studies have
linked mountaintop removal mining to cancer, birth defects, and serious
health problems for residents living near these mining sites.
Just look at my Virginia map. The highest death rates in the State
and the most chronic diseases are in the coal fields.
{time} 1430
I saw this firsthand while I was Lieutenant Governor of Virginia for
8 years, when mountaintop removal mining became the most prevalent coal
mining technique in central Appalachia.
That is why this is so important. Communities near coal mining sites
have a right to know what is in their water because it impacts their
livelihood and their lifespan.
This rule includes commonsense monitoring of streams--many of which
are important drinking water sources--for pollutants such as lead,
selenium, and manganese. Basic monitoring for these toxins is
essential, given their potential impacts on human health and the
environment.
The rule also requires that streams and lands disturbed by surface
coal mining be restored. This would result in the protection or
restoration of approximately 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of
forest over the next two decades.
This is really important because we know the contamination of streams
by coal mining pollution threatens everything from fishing and outdoor
recreation to small businesses like restaurants and farms that are
relying on clean, safe water. This rule is an appropriate balancing act
between our energy needs and our environmental protections, and it is
also appropriately flexible to coal mining companies.
Most importantly, the Congressional Review Act doesn't make sense
here. If you want to trim a tree, you don't chop it down and bury it
under cement so it will never grow again. The Congressional Review Act
is an extreme measure that would permanently damage our surface mining
laws. We have heard that it was a product of more than 7 years of work
and the chairman talks about the 13 hearings, but not one has been held
in the 18 months since the rule was proclaimed.
The Congressional Review Act describes the vast amount of work that
the Office of Surface Mining did in order to create this rule.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Woodall). The time of the gentleman has
expired.
Mr. GRIJALVA. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, what is most dangerous is, because of the
lack of clarity regarding the Congressional Review Act's prohibition on
similar rulemakings, the agency may never take future efforts to update
and improve surface mining regulations. Even if you don't like this
surface protection rule, disallowing any future protections for the
water and health of communities living near coal mining operations
makes no sense at all.
I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I now have the pleasure of
recognizing people who are not on our committee but still know how
silly this rule actually is.
I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost.)
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, the Obama administration anticoal regulation
was a solution in search of a problem. It wasn't intended to protect
the environment. It was intended to put coal miners out of work. And,
sadly, it has been successful in achieving that goal.
A study of the rule estimates it would destroy more than one-third of
our coal jobs, and that nearly half of all coal resources would
effectively be off limits to mining. In addition, the OSM rule has
ignored clear congressional directives to share information with the
States.
If ever there has been a time for Congress to act, this is it. I urge
my colleagues to support this resolution.
[[Page H844]]
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. McEachin), the ranking member of the
Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations.
Mr. McEACHIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to this
resolution to overrule the stream protection rule, just as I would
oppose any measure that threatened the quality of our drinking water.
Clean drinking water is a fundamental health need, and meeting that
need is one of our most basic responsibilities in this Congress. We
must not put special interests ahead of the health of our constituents.
The stream protection rule is very simple:
It strengthens and clarifies existing water quality protections with
respect to mining.
It requires that affected streams be restored when mining is
finished.
It gives communities accurate information about water quality so they
can best protect themselves from pollution.
Mr. Speaker, these protections are not onerous, but their benefits
are vast.
We have seen in Flint, Michigan, and elsewhere the painful
consequences when people lack access to safe drinking water. We must do
more to prevent that kind of suffering and damage. Nixing this rule
would, instead, mean that we are doing less.
The stream protection rule is the product of a careful year's-long
process. Countless stakeholders participated at two dozen public
meetings, and regulators received tens of thousands of public comments.
Mr. Speaker, this rule was crafted in the sunshine, but we are about
to overrule it in the dead of night. After all of that work, this
resolution of disapproval did not even receive a committee hearing.
Mr. Speaker, if this body is seriously going to weaken vital drinking
water protections, the American people deserve ample opportunities to
inform themselves and to make their voices heard. This rushed-through
proposal denies them that opportunity.
I find this measure to be very disturbing, and I find the process
concerning. I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle not
to go down this path.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, nice to know that 2:30 in the
afternoon is the dead of night.
I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus).
Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, a little over a year ago, I took a mile-
long, 30-minute ride with coal miners into a 3\1/2\-foot-high coal mine
in the mountains of Pennsylvania. I was reminded that day about the
incredible work ethic of the folks in western Pennsylvania, the same
work ethic that literally built this country in the 19th and first half
of the 20th centuries.
The regulation we vote on today is one of the last rules that the
Obama administration pushed out. This regulation has a single purpose:
the demise of the coal industry and the thousands of middle class jobs
that depend on it. This regulation is the culmination of former
President Obama's ideological war on American energy that provides
minimal benefit but tremendous cost.
I care about the miners and the workers I met with whose middle class
jobs are at risk. I care about utility customers whose electric bills
will go up because this regulation will take valuable American energy
offline. I care about the communities that are hurt when these coal
mines close.
This country continues to make tremendous progress on cleaning up the
environment, progress that will continue without this job-killing
regulation. If you care about the workers, if you care about these
communities, you will vote ``yes'' on this CRA and block this job
killer.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth).
Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this dangerous
effort to block the stream protection rule, a commonsense proposal that
has the potential to save lives and will improve the health, outcomes,
and well-being of families over time throughout coal country.
This bottle of--I guess you could call it a liquid--wasn't taken from
an industrial waste site or from the runoff of a landfill. This came
from the drinking well of the Urias family's home in Pike County,
Kentucky.
Despite what it looks like, there is water in there along with
chemicals, toxic minerals, and known carcinogens, all present in this
family's drinking water because of mountaintop removal.
The mountaintop removal process begins with beautiful mountains that
look just like this. These are Appalachian Mountains near the West
Virginia-Kentucky border.
First, they raze an entire side of the mountain, tearing trees from
the ground and burning down any plant growth. From there, they use
explosives to blast the tops off the mountains and push rock and dirt
out, ultimately filling the surrounding streams and waterways with
debris, blast materials, and other dangerous elements and minerals that
end up in the drinking water of the Urias family and countless others
throughout coal country.
This is what is left.
As we have noted during our fight for funding to help the families of
Flint, Michigan, dealing with water contamination, this should not
happen here in America in the 21st century; yet families in coal
country have been dealing with this for 40 years. So you can imagine
how many people's health has been jeopardized by this practice.
The stream protection rule that the House is about to block would
serve as one of the only safety measures that would protect these
families from poisonous drinking water, higher rates of cancer, lung
disease, respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, birth defects,
and the countless negative health effects that plague this region.
If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to block the
safeguards of the stream protection rule, they should at least consider
supporting my legislation, the Appalachian Communities Health Emergency
Act, or ACHE Act. I introduced this bill earlier today with
Representative Slaughter to suspend new mountaintop removal permits
until the Department of Health and Human Services can conduct a
comprehensive Federal study of the health effects of this reckless
mining method used in my State of Kentucky and throughout coal country.
I believe mountaintop removal should be banned, but at a minimum, we
should halt all new permits until the safety of the residents in the
surrounding communities is assured. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to
oppose today's effort to block this potentially lifesaving rule and
support the ACHE Act.
We have failed to protect the families in these communities, and
passage of this bill will inflict another blow to their health and
well-being. They deserve far better.
I will make a final offer to my colleagues on the other side. If
anybody wants to come and take a drink out of this, I will withdraw the
ACHE Act and vote for their legislation.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Ohio (Mr. Renacci).
Mr. RENACCI. Mr. Speaker, in the waning days of his Presidency, the
Obama administration finalized the stream buffer rule, a final parting
shot at the coal industry on his way out the door. Not once did the
Office of Surface Mining visit and assess the economic impact of this
rule on operating mines. In fact, in their analysis, they relied on
``hypothetical mines.''
These aren't hypothetical mines and they aren't hypothetical jobs
that will be affected. In the real world, this rule could mean the end
of coal production in Ohio and the end of thousands of good-paying jobs
in countless communities like the one I grew up in.
Ohio will be directly impacted by this rule. Fifty-nine percent of
our electricity comes from coal-fired power plants, and Ohio's coal
industry employs thousands of hardworking Americans.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote to stop this rule, to stop
the war on coal, and to stop this rule which could cause hardworking
Americans to lose their jobs. I urge my colleagues to support this
joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act.
Mr. GRIJALVA. I reserve the balance of my time.
[[Page H845]]
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton), another State that was promised,
in the Clean Water Act, to have authority which was taken away by this
simple rule.
Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, the United States is blessed with a wealth
of domestic energy resources, allowing our Nation to responsibly
develop safe, abundant, and affordable energy to meet our own needs.
The Third District of Colorado has blue skies, clean water, while
maintaining a healthy amount of responsible development of oil, natural
gas, and coal production in its many communities.
According to the Energy Information Agency, coal accounted for
approximately 60 percent of the electricity generated in Colorado in
2015; yet this vitally important resource that provides affordable
energy and jobs to many of our families' homes has come under attack.
Backed by radical interests, the government has issued new rules and
regulations under the guise of environmental protections, but whose
true intent is to bankrupt the coal industry with regulatory
compliance.
The stream protection rule is a solution in search of a problem.
Modern mining operations are already adept at avoiding impacts to
watersheds, as the Office of Surface Mining's own numbers show. The
industry is also already subject to a wide array of environmental
statutes and regulations enforced by various Federal and State
cooperating agencies.
I urge the passage of this resolution and encourage my colleagues to
support it.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I would like to read a few lines from letters of opposition to this
resolution. The first comes from a coalition of 75 national and local
environmental groups who are strongly opposed to this bill.
They write: ``This long awaited rule provides local communities with
information they desperately need about water pollution caused by
nearby coal mining operations, and includes several important
protections for clean water and the health of communities surrounding
coal mining operations. Any attack on the safeguards in the Stream
Protection Rule is an attack on clean water and should be opposed.''
Wildlife and sportsman groups are also opposed.
The National Wildlife Federation writes: ``The Stream Protection Rule
is an important water quality rule for our nation. It seeks to empower
State regulatory authorities to ensure coal mining and reclamation best
practices, taking into account their unique regional distinctions and
impacts to local communities and wildlife.
``. . . any efforts to undermine the safeguards afforded by the
finalized Stream Protection Rule, a rule with years of stakeholder
outreach and engagement, would be an attack on clean water and should
be opposed.''
Travel Unlimited says: ``The rule is a worthy, sensible effort to
reduce the huge impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining . . . on our
Appalachian streams and rivers.''
And it goes on and on. They all go on to point out the specific
impact of mountaintop removal mining on fishing and wildlife and
sportsmen.
``Mountaintop removal mining practices create a survival risk for
brook trout and other wild trout populations, and impede efforts to
restore brook trout in already degraded watersheds.''
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Kentucky (Mr. Comer), a new Member of Congress, who realizes that
this rule is long on regulations and short on real new protections for
people.
{time} 1445
Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in favor of repealing the
stream protection rule.
I represent a coal-producing district whose economy has been
devastated by the former President's and his renegade of unelected
bureaucrats' war on coal.
Last year, a Presidential candidate boasted among a liberal political
crowd that she would put a bunch of coal miners out of work. She went
on to say that the government would then essentially come in and put
those hardworking, out-of-work coal miners on welfare.
Well, Mr. Speaker, my coal miners don't want to be on government
welfare. They want the government to get out of their way and let them
work.
Because of senseless, onerous regulations like the stream protection
rule, the liberals in Washington have succeeded in putting most coal
miners out of work. I believe that with the passage of H.J. Res. 38 and
a sensible energy policy created and implemented by businesspeople
instead of bureaucrats, we can begin to bring coal jobs back to
Kentucky and help provide the struggling economies in Kentucky's coal
counties.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from California (Mr. LaMalfa), one of the other members of our
committee who has served for a long time and has heard many of these
arguments before.
Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the measure for
congressional disapproval of the Department of the Interior's stream
protection rule, which was created under the guise of protecting the
environment but, instead, has been very harmful to American jobs.
They have attempted to cripple an industry--energy--that has provided
vast amounts of energy to States across this country for decades. My
home State of California has had a long history of mining that has led
to incredible economic growth and job opportunities for many of my
local communities.
This one-size-fits-all approach fails to provide any regulatory
certainty to industry and denies important tax revenue from energy
extraction to the American taxpayer.
I appreciate my colleagues bringing this to the floor, and I hope we
can sort through the rhetoric on this against energy jobs of a very
important segment across the country that supplies so much of our
energy currently, and can do it with safety and a mind for redeveloping
our economy.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, the opposition to this particular
bill goes from coast to coast. We just heard from California. Now we
will go back to the East Coast.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Yoho).
Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I stand here today in support of the
livelihood of an entire region of our country and industry that was
unfairly targeted by the Obama administration in pursuit of an
ideological agenda to do away with our Nation's abundant coal
resources.
The previous administration targeted the coal industry and, by
extension, the hardworking Americans employed by the industry under the
guise of protecting the environment. We all want clear air and water
for our Nation's prosperity, but this rule is so strict, it makes it
impossible for companies to continue to operate. It results in layoffs,
closed businesses, and ultimately an entire region unemployed.
Our Nation is blessed with an abundance of natural resources and we
should utilize them all: oil, hydropower, wind, solar, and yes, clean
coal, too. We must be prudent about how we regulate our energy
industries because when one sector is pushed out, it is the moms and
dads at the end of the month paying their electric bill that feel the
impact the most. All Americans will be affected, but it will be felt
more by the ones who can least afford it.
That is why I am opposed to the rule, and I urge my colleagues to
support the CRA.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The use of the Congressional Review Act has been categorized as
reckless and extreme. The CRA was going to cause significant and
lasting harm.
If successful, two things are going to happen: the regulation is void
and the agency is prohibited from issuing another similar rule ever
again.
I mention that because this is about health. It is about the health
of the people living around those mining operations and it is about
mountaintop removal and the documented analysis
[[Page H846]]
that proves that it is a danger to health. It contaminates water and it
is destructive to the environment.
It is curious that we had 13 hearings--I stand corrected--and an
investigation that went on in perpetuity, it seemed like. Yet, once the
rule was finalized and published in 2015, we never had another hearing
on the item again, which begs the question: If the whole point was to
delay and prevent this rule from ever taking effect and, more
importantly, make it susceptible to the Congressional Review Act,
mission accomplished for the majority.
But the long-term consequences of using the CRA on a rule that is
designed to protect people's health, on a rule that is designed to make
coal companies be transparent and disclose to the public, on a rule
that every scientific analysis and the science is clear that this rule
was indeed there to protect both people and communities, I think that
is the permanent harm being done by this action today--denying the
people in those communities to return to past practices that created
the problem that we are dealing with and that this rule attempted to
address that created that problem.
Now we return to those times where unregulated mountaintop removal
causes the destruction to both human beings and the environment that we
see as a legacy. I think it is not only disrespectful to the people of
those regions, but it, again, puts their health and the well-being of
both the environment and humanity in that area at major risk. It is not
only reckless and extreme to use the CRA, it is also dangerous.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Kentucky (Mr. Barr), who clearly understands the situation that
this rule has presented.
Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak in favor
of this Congressional Review Act resolution on behalf of the thousands
of fellow Kentuckians who have lost their jobs in the coal industry.
In eastern Kentucky, not far from where I live, it is not just a
recession that they are experiencing. What is happening in eastern
Kentucky is a little depression over the last several years. The stream
protection rule would be the final death knell of a proud industry that
has literally powered America for over a century.
When I talk to the men and women of eastern Kentucky about the
prospects of losing even more jobs in an economically depressed place,
it is just absolutely devastating. So I applaud the work of the
committee and I applaud the work of this House to take this matter
seriously to end this regulation that would put even more of my fellow
Kentuckians in economic distress.
Instead of looking at environmental questions as a matter of the need
to have more government central planning, let's solve environmental
problems in a different way, through innovation and technology.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis).
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this
resolution providing for a congressional disapproval of the stream
buffer rule.
In my home State of Illinois, coal production employs roughly 5,000
workers and the industry contributes $2 billion a year to our State's
economy. In southern Illinois, these are some of the region's best-
paying jobs.
Unfortunately, this rule was one of the final shots the Obama
administration fired in their war on coal. Unless reversed, this rule
is directly going to hurt our Illinois coal miners and those working at
coal power plants and, in the end, consumers--those who pay the utility
bills in this country.
The last administration refused to work in good faith with the States
when finalizing the rule, even after Congress told them to do so in the
2015 omnibus bill.
I include in the Record a letter from the Illinois Department of
Natural Resources in opposition to the rule.
Illinois Department of
Natural Resources,
Springfield, IL, January 30, 2017.
Re The Stream Protection Rule and The Congressional Review
Act.
Hon. Paul Ryan,
Speaker, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Mitch McConnell,
Majority Leader, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McConnell: As the
regulatory authority for administering the federal Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act (``SMCRA'') in the State
of Illinois, the Department of Natural Resources
(``Department'') appeals Congress to use its power under the
Congressional Review Act to disapprove the ``Stream
Protection Rule'' (``Rule''), issued by the Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (``OSM'') at 81 Fed. Reg.
93066 (Dec. 20, 2016).
The Rule's ``one size fits all'' approach to regulatory
performance standards fails to incorporate important regional
differences, such as local geology, hydrologic regime, and
climate, as required under SMCRA. For example, stream loss
has rarely been a problem in the State of Illinois given the
regional hydrogeology of the Illinois Basin. To universally
require long term upstream and downstream monitoring would
place an undue burden on the State to continually review such
data. The rule gives no discretion to state regulatory
authorities.
Despite the claims of OSM in its Regulatory Impact
Analysis, the Rule would place significant burdens and
additional costs on state regulatory programs. Compliance
with the rule would require the Department to revise and
restructure its entire coal mining program and add $600,000
to $800,000 per year in staffing and equipment costs.
OSM's failure to properly consult with the State of
Illinois and the other states has resulted in a burdensome
and unlawful Rule that usurps states' authority as primary
regulators of coal mining as intended by Congress under
SMCRA, and demands congressional action.
The Congressional Review Act provides Congress the
authority to take action to avoid the harm imposed by the
Rule. Accordingly, we respectfully request that you and your
colleagues in the Congress pass a joint resolution
disapproving the Final Stream Protection Rule under the
procedures of the Congressional Review Act, S U.S.C. 801 et
seq., so that it shall have no continuing force or effect.
Thank you for your careful consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Wayne A. Rosenthal,
Director, Department of Natural Resources.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. In this letter, IDNR notes that the
Office of Surface Mining failed to properly consult with the State of
Illinois and the other States, resulting in a burdensome and unlawful
rule that usurps States' authority as primary regulators of coal mining
as intended by Congress and demands congressional action.
Mr. Speaker, rules like this are what the CRA is all about. I ask for
your support.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
The stream protection rule has got to be the poster child for the
Congressional Review Act's action. There are 400 changes to the bill.
There are 400 changes in over 1,600 pages of regulations, and there is
no new, real protection above and beyond what we were using since the
Reagan administration.
But it does outline benefits and potential problems for 70,000 people
directly with their jobs, for 300,000 people whose jobs are threatened
in a ripple effect, and, unfortunately, for everyone else. Every time
you turn a light on, your costs will be exacerbated because of this
particular rule.
This rule affects the most vulnerable of our population and it hurts
them. It is time for us to realize that it is time to stop making rules
and regulations for an ideological approach, and, instead, new rules
and regulations that help people, not hurt people, as this particular
one does.
That is why this House, on four different occasions over the last
three congresses, has voted against this particular proposal.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, our opposition to this action being proposed by the
Republicans to eliminate the stream protection rule is, indeed, an
action that goes against fundamental science, goes against the public
health of the American people in those communities, and, overall, takes
the Congressional Review Act and uses it as a bludgeon to keep
generations and generations in those areas at risk in their health,
their water, and the general environment in the area.
[[Page H847]]
The issue of cost is an issue that comes up. The loss of jobs has
been the creation of competition, not because of any proposed rule.
Second of all, when we were dealing with the horrors of black lung,
we were dealing with issues of mine safety for coal miners and the
struggles that their unions had to go through to get mine safety and
healthcare protection for their workers.
At the time, I am sure, those were considered cost factors and why
not do it. The cost factor here is about human life and it is about
protection of water. I would suggest that that should be the priority
of this Congress and not emboldening or enriching the mine operators
and their profit line.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), my friend.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I have been involved for 28 years on the
Natural Resources Committee on these issues.
What we are talking about today is simple here. Yes, it is cheaper.
If you blow the top off a mountain and you dump it in the valley and
you bury a stream, it is cheaper. Okay.
Is that what we are all about here? The most destructive, least
environmentally responsible, but cheapest way of doing things?
If we are going to set the precedent here, I can think of a whole lot
of other areas that relate to clean water, clean air, and things that
are important to the American people and the sustainability of our
environment that will go away because it would be cheaper. If we can
just dump the waste out the back door of the factory, that is cheaper.
{time} 1500
If we can just put whatever we want up the stack and people wear gas
masks, that is cheaper. That is the major argument we are hearing
today. This rule, a 100-foot buffer--a 100-foot buffer--for toxic
materials around streams is too expensive. It is cheaper to blow the
top off the mountain, get the coal out, and take all the overburden and
other assorted stuff and dump it in the valley and bury the stream.
The only problem is then it rains. What happens when it rains? Well,
you can either cap that whole thing and make it impermeable and then
have big runoff downstream or, as it generally happens, the water
percolates down through all the waste and becomes a toxic flow.
Now, you say, well, these are only seasonal streams. Well, seasonal
streams run into other streams. What happens when you get those toxic
flows is you kill the other streams. I am seeing this actually in my
district, not from a coal mine, but from a foreign corporation which
improperly mined and went bankrupt and left us with the waste. I have
seen the miles of stream that are killed from the toxics that are
leaching out from the overburden from the mining that is done. This is
an absurd place to say we are overregulated.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Ohio (Mr. Gibbs).
Mr. GIBBS. Mr. Speaker, in his last month in office, President Obama
fired one last shot in his war on coal. By finalizing the so-called
stream protection rule, the Obama administration made it more difficult
for an already distressed industry to provide a reliable and affordable
energy source for our economy.
In reality, the only thing President Obama tried to protect was the
jobs of bureaucrats at the expense of hardworking Americans. This rule
adds no new environmental protections. It only duplicates what Federal
and State regulators are already doing to protect the environment.
Additionally, this rule could close off as much as half of the U.S.
coal reserves for mining. The bureaucrats writing this rule did not
truly understand the impact of this because, in the 7 years they took
to write it, no one bothered to visit an actual mine.
We cannot allow out-of-control bureaucrats to regulate an industry
that employs thousands of Americans out of existence simply to save the
radical liberal agenda. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting
this resolution of disapproval of yet another regulatory overreach by
the Obama administration.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote. I think the
arguments have been made. The precedent being set tonight by this House
is a dangerous and extreme precedent that we will all come to regret. I
urge a ``no'' vote.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers), the former chairman of the Committee on
Appropriations.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I thank the chairman for yielding me this
time.
Mr. Speaker, President Obama made it his mission to bankrupt the coal
industry when he took office, and through a slew of job-killing
regulations, he has nearly made good on that promise. His
administration spent 7 years and over $10 million in taxpayer dollars
writing the stream protection rule. Even though the bipartisan 2016
omnibus appropriations bill directed the Interior Department to engage
with the States before finalizing this rule, the agency refused to
comply, leaving crucial voices out of the rulemaking process.
Under this midnight regulation, at least half of the Nation's coal
reserves would be restricted from mining, and one-third of current
coal-related jobs would be at risk. This would mean more devastating
job losses in coal communities across the country, especially in
Kentucky, where we have already got nearly 13,000 miners out of work.
It is time to end the madness and give our communities in the coal
areas a chance to rebuild. I urge support of this resolution.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers. I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I yield myself the balance of my time to close.
Mr. Speaker, we have heard a lot of false science today, which is
appropriate since the agency that concocted this rule refused to allow
any of the data they used to make the rule to be made public. We asked
for it. We asked for it in legislation. They simply refused to comply.
Ninety-three percent of the sites are not having any impact on the
streams, and the other seven percent we already had rules that covered
them that did this protection. There is no real new protection in this
particular act.
The States, which regulate 97 percent of the coal mines in the United
States, were shut out of the process, which is why they are suing over
it. This rule undercuts the State primacy that was provided in the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.
What we are doing here today with this effort is to reestablish the
article I authority that we have in the Constitution by saying we are
responsible for the policy, not some agency of the executive branch.
Adopting this resolution protects the rights of States tasked with
regulating the coal industry in their borders, and it also actually
helps people. People are going to be harmed if this act is not repealed
and actually goes into effect, and the most vulnerable of our
populations are the ones who will suffer the most because of it.
Because of that reason, it is right for Congress to do our
responsibility here and now and repeal this bad act that was done in
secret that was not allowed to have the openness that we have requested
in the past and that is simply redundant at best, totally unnecessary,
and does the harm that it does to real people: 70,000 direct jobs, over
300,000 indirect jobs, as well as a higher cost to everyone who uses
energy in this Nation.
I ask my colleagues to support the resolution of disapproval and vote
for its final passage.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I stand in strong opposition to
H.J. Res. 38, the resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the
Department of the Interior known as the Stream Protection Rule.
I would like to express both my support of the Stream Protection Rule
as well as my deep concern over the use of the Congressional Review Act
to derail smart regulations that protect our citizens' health while
simultaneously creating a precedent of recklessly obstructing federal
rulemaking.
[[Page H848]]
The Stream Protection Rule is an effective and sensible regulation
that has undergone years of development in order to compel big
polluters and industry actors to responsibly dispose of dangerous waste
so that our water supply and ecosystems remain free of toxic
pollutants. The attempt to dismantle this rule will cause irreparable
harm to clean drinking water sources for millions of Americans. The
Stream Protection Rule provides Americans with an environmental
monitoring system that assures the cleanliness of the water.
The residents of the 4th District of Georgia, like many of the
constituents of my colleagues, live alongside and depend upon rivers to
be protected from harmful pollutants and toxic chemicals that are the
product of mining and industrial run-off. Run-off from mining and
industry sources contaminate stream water with various lethal toxins,
including lead and arsenic. These pollutants not only impact the lives
of people living in close proximity to the run-off sources of heavy
pollutants, but all people who live downstream.
The water protected by this rule is the same water consumed by our
families, including children and the elderly. Those exposed to
carcinogens in their water can suffer from birth defects, cancer, and
even death.
Clean and safe water is in the interest of all Americans, regardless
of their income level or political party. It matters not whether a
state is red or blue, access to clean water will always be necessary,
and it should be mandatory. Clean water is a human right and this rule
ensures our country can provide clean drinking water to its citizens.
I ask my colleagues this question: if the Stream Protection Rule is
overturned are you prepared to tell your constituents and their
families that their water will be less safe to drink or use?
I am not alone in my stance. More than 70 groups representing the
interests of a wide-swath of American citizens have expressed their
strong disapproval with this resolution. Two of these groups, the
Savannah Riverkeeper and Altamaha Riverkeeper organizations, represent
the environmental concerns of my home, the great state of Georgia.
These groups along with dozens of others have expressed to our
country's elected officials that a resolution of disapproval for the
Steam Protection Rule would significantly jeopardize the well-being of
millions of Americans.
By subjecting the Stream Protection Rule to the Congressional Review
Act, we set a dangerous precedent in delegitimizing federal rulemaking
procedure, while we elevate the interests of corporations over the
health and safety of our citizens. The health of our nation's children
must supersede the maximization of profits.
For the sake of the millions of Americans who rely on the safety
regulations established by this rule, I strongly urge my colleagues to
vote NO on the resolution. The citizens of our nation will thank you
for putting their health first.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Holding). All time for debate has
expired.
Pursuant to the rule, the previous question is ordered on the joint
resolution.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the joint
resolution.
The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed and read a third
time, and was read the third time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the joint
resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
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